No wins, wealth of experience for Price at tournament

Price's Tyson Dameron tosses to Johnathann Garcia to start a double play against the Pocatello Raptors.

By TERRY WILLISSun Advocate reporter

The young Price American Legion team didn't get a chance to breathe, before they faced one of the top teams in the tournament during last week's contest. On Thursday, they opened play against Utah Select. This is a team made up of some of the top players from around the Salt Lake Valley. Price lost 5-15.

They then faced the Pocatello Rebels and went down 1-10. Saturday they took on Desert Hills and almost came away with a win but lost 8-10. In their final game on Sunday, they met up with the cross town Helper bunch and finished with a 3-13 defeat.

With Levi Graff on the mound, it didn't take too long before the Utah Select squad began to show their prowess. Graff pitched well, but errors behind him on the field and some good hitting from the more senior team left Price in a hole they couldn't climb out of.

Jonathan Garcia had a double and an RBI. Travis Failor blasted a triple and had a pair of RBI's to lead the Price offense.

Coach Willie Ellington said of their opponent, "They are a good, sweet team. And I think it was better for our boys not to know just how good they were before hand. I think we played better. We at least scored five against them."

In game two, Price took on the Rebels and held even at a run apiece until the third. Again it was a few errors that let the game slide from their hands. Travis Failor went the distance on the mound. The game ended in five. The offense for Price only managed three hits that were all were singles.

"Errors cost us a lot this tournament. We got some good knocks, but I think they learned a lot too," commented Ellington.

Desert Thunder is also a young team and Price kept themselves in this game on Saturday. Neto Pacheco started, but left after two. Joe Mckennon came on and pitched five solid innings. Jordan Maughan led the Price offense with a home run and a pair of RBI's.

On Sunday morning Helper showed up and was surprised to see their opponent was the Helper squad. "We figured them to be in the championship game," stated Ellington, "Just shows how good all these teams were."

Helper showed Price they were not about to lose to the younger team. Travis Failor gave up seven runs before he was chased from the game. Price scored 10 in the first to take a commanding lead. The bright spot for the Price team was CJ Wilson's double.

Ellington was still happy with the performance of his boys. He knew they were in for a wild ride before hand, but they walked away without being shut out in a single game.

"They played tough and they played their hearts out," he said. "We'll be ok. We scored in every game and held our heads up no matter what."